Colors and Whites: What I Learned Today

In anticipation of the start of my classes next week (a couple of spaces left -- see my web site: www.jillbanks.com, click on classes for info), I've been studying ... reading ... thinking about painting. This past weekend and on the rides to and from Williamsburg, I was rereading my favorite (note: not one of my favorites ... this one's my favorite) art book, Richard Schmid's "Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting." He mixes a tremendous amount of inspiration along with extraordinarily clear writing about art solutions/thinking/techniques. It just couldn't be better.

I'm currently reading through his section on color and light. He was instructed to create color charts by his teacher, Bill Mosby, to learn his palette. I've never done this formal exercise ... but as of today, I'm going to start. (Plus, students be warned: WE'RE going to do this. Homework.) The lessons Richard Schmid learned doing this were invaluable. I learned just by seeing what he'd done and can't wait for more a-ha moments along the way.

This also led me to looking up color info on Gamblin's (an oil color and medium manufacturer) web site. There's so much info there!!!  I looked up reds (learning more about Perylene red and the Cadmiums and the impermanence of Alizarin Crimson and the new developments in Permanent Alizarin), violets (made me go out and buy and try Cobalt Violet today -- an AMAZING color -- and confirmed my suspicions about Dioxizine Purple, a sort of out-of-control color), and whites. When I got to the white section ... WHOA. The descriptions of each white gave how/when each should be used according to their properties. I have primarily been using Titanium white ... because that's what we used at Studio Incamminati when I took workshops there on portraiture/color and because, as a messy painter, I didn't want to worry about wearing lead from flake white paint.  So, today, I went on a major shopping spree (necessary) to Plaza Arts, I bought two 150ml tubes of Gamblin's Titanium-Zinc, one tube of Titanium, and one tube of Flake White Replacement. Titanium-Zinc was recommended as the best white for color mixing as too much Titanium is needed to lighten colors, making them chalky before they get light enough. Well, I tested  Titanium-Zinc today and I'm a HUGE fan. This was actually the white recommended by Kim English for a plein air workshop I took a while ago ... and suddenly, it all makes sense. (To me, anyway.) I worked more on a commission that's one step from completion using Titanium-Zinc as my white ... and, wow.

This is the tip of the iceberg of what I learned today. Plus, I know how I'm going to approach learning that much more tomorrow and the next day. I'm on cloud nine. I can't wait.

Oil painting is a never-ending discovery. There is no way to know it all. You peel away one level of understanding to find out just how much farther you have to dig/experiment/study/practice. It's a lifetime pursuit. (And then some.)

By the way, I received two rejections today (one in the mail, one on the phone) ... and it didn't make a bit of difference to me. While I prefer to hear good news, like acceptances and awards, that just doesn't happen all the time ... no matter what you do or who you are. And, honestly, I'm so excited to be learning and painting, nothing could burst my mood.

And, for those of you following my house/move progress, I'm starting to get excited about the progress and we will actually be moving furniture in next week. (We've been camping out in our new/older house for almost 2 months.) While we were away last weekend, little elves laid our lower level carpet (where my gorgeous studio is) ... and it looks great. Upstairs is looking better and better. If I just had an elevator to skip the middle/main floor, I'd think we were almost done. Seriously, I can see how wonderful it will be. Now I need to sell about 100 paintings to help me pay for it.

While I'm writing about colors and whites, here's a single-hued drawing from this past weekend. "Barrel" was my favorite of the four done in Williamsburg.

"Barrel", pencil, ink wash and Faber-Castelli pens, copyright Jill Banks 2010.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435
For info on Fall classes: www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/Classes_3.html
Great Falls School of Art registration form: www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/Registration_Form.html